Introduction

Introduction

Data acquisition is a crucial component of effective network management. The most sophisticated monitoring applications can only report on the data they have. If that data is acquired in a manner that allows duplicated or asymmetric network traffic, the resulting performance and health metrics can be skewed.

CA Application Delivery Analysis, CA Multi-Port Monitor, and CA UC Monitor measure and analyze specific types of network traffic. Sending traffic that these applications cannot monitor only adds load to the server. In extreme cases, packets are discarded. NI GigaStor records all traffic that is sent to it. Duplicate packets severely reduce the amount of time that NI GigaStor can retain data. Duplicate packets make packet-capture analysis difficult.

This document explains the recommended methods for acquiring data from switches. Following these methods can help you prevent issues such as duplicate packets, asymmetric traffic, and oversubscription of switch ports. These best practices help ensure the accuracy of metrics calculated from captured data and reduce unnecessary load on network monitoring tools.